Florida Department of CorrectionsJulie L. Jones, Secretary

Sentencing Guidelines 1995-96 Annual Report

Part I: Introduction

Section 1. Overview of Florida Sentencing
Guidelines

What are Sentencing Guidelines?

The Florida Sentencing Guidelines represent the state's structured
policy with respect to the sentencing of non-capital felony
offenders. There are three distinct versions of the guidelines
currently in operation in Florida. They all:

Provide for a uniform set of standards to guide the sentencing
court in sentencing decisions.

Evaluate relevant factors present at sentencing relating
to the offense or offenses and the defendant's prior criminal
behavior.

Attempt to provide for "truth in sentencing"
and eliminate unwarranted disparity in sentencing decisions.

Focus on ensuring that the punishment is commensurate
with the offenses before the court for sentencing

Are mathematically based and provide a means to address
several policy areas including severity of the crime, victim
injury, prior record, legal status, and other specific considerations.
Every assessment of points in each system reflects a policy
statement regarding the relative severity of a criminal
behavior.

Are represented by a respective scoresheet which must
be completed for each felony defendant prior to sentencing.

History of Sentencing Guidelines

Before Sentencing Guidelines

Florida Sentencing Guidelines first became effective on October
1, 1983. Prior to that time, courts sentenced in accordance
with provisions of law that permitted a wide range of judicial
discretion in the sentencing decision. Sanctions ranged from
a minimum of a fine, up to state prison incarceration. The
statutory maximum penalties of incarceration in state prison
were:

Five years for a felony of the third degree

Fifteen years for a felony of the second degree

Thirty years for a felony of the first degree

Life for a life felony

This was a form of indeterminate sentencing policy because
most offenders sentenced to prison were, by law, parole eligible.
Parole was a discretionary early release policy which obviously
had a significant impact upon both the percentage and the
actual amount of time served.

The 1983 Sentencing Guidelines

Due to concerns regarding actual and percent of time served
as well as concerns regarding a lack of uniformity in sentencing,
the 1983 Florida Sentencing Guidelines were enacted October
1, 1983 and parole eligibility was abolished for almost all
offenses committed after that date. These guidelines are currently
in effect for:

All non-capital felony offenses committed on or after
October 1, 1983 and before January 1, 1994.

All non-capital and non-life felonies committed before
October 1, 1983 but sentenced after October 1, 1983, when
the defendant elects to be sentenced under these guidelines.

The 1983 guidelines structure was comprised of nine separate
worksheets for specified offense categories. All offenses
were contained in one of these categories:

Murder/Manslaughter

Sexual Offenses

Robbery

Violent Personal Crimes

Burglary

Thefts, Forgery, Fraud

Drugs

Weapons and Escape

Other Felony Offenses

Within each worksheet, points were assessed for offenses
to be sentenced and prior record offenses based on the number
of offenses and each offense's felony degree. Assessments
were also made for legal status and victim injury. Total scores
fell into sentencing ranges or cells, for each worksheet.
The least severe cell provided for a non-state prison sanction
and the most severe cell provided for 27 years to life in
prison. Departure sentences were permissible as long as written
reasons were provided.

Several factors eventually eroded the integrity of the "truth
in sentencing" aspect of the 1983 sentencing guidelines.
Some of these factors included:

An epidemic of "crack" cocaine-related offense
activity. This resulted in an unanticipated impact upon
correctional resources.

The passage of unfunded mandatory minimum sentence legislation.

Significant growth in the population of the state of Florida.

As a result of these and other factors, the percentage of
time served and actual time served declined. By 1989, the
average percent of time served was 34%. This lack of system
integrity was the impetus for the creation of a new sentencing
guidelines structure.

The 1994 Sentencing Guidelines

The 1994 sentencing guidelines were enacted through the passage
of the "Safe Streets Act". These sentencing guidelines
are in effect for all non-capital felony offenses committed
on or after January 1, 1994 and before October 1, 1995. The
focus of these guidelines is to:

Incarcerate violent and repetitive offenders.

Ensure a greater percentage of time served by providing
that the policy created matched the resources that would
be available.

Eliminate certain gain time provisions.

Continue to attempt to eliminate unwarranted disparity
in sentencing.

Provide a flexible sentencing structure.

The structure of the 1994 sentencing guidelines has little
similarity to the 1983 structure. The 1994 structure attempted
to resolve some of the problems inherent in the preceding
structure, such as the nine separate worksheets, the lack
of offense-specific detail, and the issue of grouping crimes
by category. The structure of the 1994 guidelines:

Ranks all non-capital felonies in one of ten offense severity
levels. Level one is the least severe ranking and ten reflects
the most serious felonies.

Associates each of the rankings with a point value in
each of three elements: primary offense, additional offense(s),
and prior record. Point values escalate as the rank increases.
Every offense scored is provided its corresponding point
value in these areas, with the emphasis on the primary offense.

Provides for victim injury points to be assessed for physical
injury or death suffered as a direct result of any offense
pending sentence. Victim injury points are also scored for
sexual penetration or sexual contact sustained.

Other policy levels of the guidelines include an assessment
of points for:

Legal status existing at the time of the offense, pending
sentencing.

Offenses returned to the court due to a violation of community
supervision.

Offenses involving the possession of specified firearms
when no mandatory minimum applies.

Violations of the Law Enforcement Protection Act, which
includes specified violent offenses committed against law
enforcement officers.

Drug trafficking offenses when no mandatory
minimum penalty applies.

Under the 1994 structure, the total guidelines score determines
the guidelines sanction and a range of state prison months,
if applicable. There are basically three categories of sanction
based upon total scores. The scores may:

mandate a non-state prison sanction.

provide for discretionary prison or non-state prison sanction.

mandate a state prison sanction.

The sentencing parameters point values operate as follows:

If total or increased sentence points are under 40, the
offender must receive a non-state prison sanction, which
includes options of county jail, probation (with or without
residential programs), or community control.

If total sentence points are less than 40, but could be
increased by 15% to reach over 40, the court may, in its
discretion, do so. This means that in actuality, scores
of less than 34.8 must receive a non-state prison sanction
under the guidelines.

If total or increased sentence points are over 40 and
less than 52 the court has the discretion to provide a non-state
prison sanction or a prison sanction.

If the total sentence points exceed 52, a state prison
sanction is mandated under the guidelines.

The length of prison is determined by subtracting 28 from
the total sentence points to derive the total prison months

The court has the discretion to increase or decrease the
sanction by 25%, unless the total sentence points were increased
initially by 15% to obtain an increased point value of over
40.